dogs

My third christmas

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Christmas has been and gone and I haven’t written anything.
Nothing about the beating of the Tio, nor the traditional Catalan Christmas dinner of Escudella i carn d’olla.  I haven’t shown you the Christmas market in Barcelona nor the nativity scene in Plaça St Jaume.  No photos of bubbling cava or delicious turrons……nothing!  Res!  Niente!  Nada!
Sorry. I have just been so involved in getting the dogs settled here in their new home and trying to find a rhythm that allows me time for myself between sorties to the plaça with anxious Bonnie, hyperactive Duna or slow Blue or some combination of those three. I haven’t been to Barcelona at all and I didn’t go to  beat the Tio and sing ‘El Noi de la Mare’ this year.
But I did finally make it into Granollers centre to look at the Christmas market. It’s not really very exciting compared to the Santa Lucia one in Barcelona but I did take a good look at the figures for the all important nativity scenes and bought a little set for home

I remember unpacking the nativity scene was one of the lovely parts of Christmas in Troon when I was young. We used to set them up inside a toy garage which must have deeply influenced my idea of the stable in Bethlehem.
If you have been following this blog at all you’ll know that Catalunya has a strong tradition of scatalogical customs. the beating of the Tio is to make it shit presents. and in the nativity scenes, the pessebres, there must be somewhere hidden a caganer, a little man with his trousers down shitting in the bushes

I bought one of these for a friend but couldn’t decide on one for our pessebre so for the moment it has only Josep, Maria, Jesus, a donkey, (by the way did you know the donkey or burro has been adopted as a symbol of Catalunya and many cars have a bumper sticker with one on it?) and a cow, una vaca. Oh and an angel of course!

Christmas dinner was lovely this year and I have to say much easier now that I can speak a little more Catalan. I took my  own nut roast and ate parts of the typical Catalan dinner.

Of course there was Cava – here’s a glass with icecream mixed in
And a tower of turrons to be carefully demolished like an edible pikastix

The other reason I didn’t write too much was because it’s taken me a bit of time to get settled back in here after all the turmoil of the move and three months in Cornwall where of course I feel totally at ease. I have had some days of feeling like this

but now that the stress of Nadal and Sant Esteve is past I seem to be sniffing the air and, like Blue, finding it full of interesting smells

Listening to Catalan in the early hours

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

I was up early this morning to take out Bonnie and Blue before the shoppers start to walk down the street and it gets embarassing for me to be out there in my badly hidden nightie. Also Blue has developed the habit of peeing as soon as we get out the front door – or sometimes worse!  And thirdly our Resident Adolescent was out at a disco last night and expected home around 6.30am which I knew would wake the dogs up and perhaps lead to puddles in the living room.
So….after wandering around the square for a while with two sleepy dogs I came back and made a cup of tea and opened the computer to pass the time while waiting for two teenagers to get home.
Where do you go when you want to look at something on the internet but aren’t sure what?
Youtube perhaps?  I’ve just been watching some videos by a man who makes films of himself speaking Catalan and Spanish…. and English sometimes which is the language he is learning. He’s called Oscar and he sits in his home talking to the camera in a really informal and informative way. I like these videos because he speaks very clearly and he just chats about interesting things like language learning or problems faced by people learning a new language. It’s all very relaxed and a great way to practise listening skills. Sometimes he goes out for a walk with his dog in the Catalan hills and chats to his iphone as he goes. There’s something very appealing about him and if you are learning Catalan or Spanish I’d really recommend finding him on YouTube and subscribing to his channel.  Then you’ll automatically get sent his new video.
This is not the most interesting one he has made but I put it here as an introduction to Oscar and it’s short and topical! He speaks English, Catalan and Spanish in a brief Christmas greeting.  Click here to watch.
Hope you enjoy him!

Receiving visitors

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

No photos today – sorry but it’s been a day of doing last minute things and I’m only writing here to let you know we are setting off for Catalunya tomorrow and although I am very nervous (about what?  not sure really but just General Fears) I am also ready to go.
I’m hoping for time to write a little on the way down – Blue is going to do some guest posts about her first trip ‘abroad’.
The van is packed, the tickets bought and the first dog friendly hotel is booked.
The weather is awful – all day it has teased us with sunshine and then soaked us as we trudged across the field carrying last things up to the cabin.
I have moved in with my lovely neighbours who have helped and supported me in so many ways throughout this process.  My own empty and echoing house was beginning to feel very weird – for me but also for the dogs who wandered from room to room looking forlorn before sinking down in  sad heaps on the cold concrete floors. So we moved out and have been sleeping better and breathing in normality with my friends.
Today there were a stream of visitors to say goodbye – to Blue!  After 15 years in Lamorna she has many friends both human and canine. Many of her old dog companions have died and she is one of the last of her generation. People came bearing gifts for the journey – homemade treats, biscuits, marrowbone markies.  Last photos were taken. Hugs and kisses accepted with a regal sigh. Blue cares deeply about those she loves but she doesn’t like to be fussed over.
Time to sleep now and tomorrow off we go on a great adventure – vuelvo al sur!
Vuelo al Sur
como se vuelve siempre al amor
vuelvo a vos
con mi deseo. con mi temor

Virtual Vermut

~ Kate Wilson ~ 6 Comments

It’s blowing a gale outside and is definitely the night to sit in front of the fire and have a drink and a chat with a friend.   I am here with the fire and the vermut – actually red wine –  I can even offer you mince pies…… and hopefully you are here too for the chat?   (Thank you Bodhi Chicklet for keeping the glasses full in my absence!)

The room is quite empty now as you can see. I have brought in a garden table and on the top you can see two envelopes full of old postcards which sold on ebay today anda spiral notepad containing everything I need to remember while organising the move
.
If you were here I could show you Blue’s new ramp which arrived this morning and which thankfully seems to be all that was promised in the advertisment

Light, strong, wide, non slip and most important of all, acceptable to Blue. It is a Solvit ultralite bought from Easy Animal who have a freephone advice service and I would highly recommend them.
I could also take you outside when the rain stops to show you the cabin we were working on all summer

I’ve been up there today trying to sort out old diaries and deciding which ones to burn.  I never thought I would do this but actually I am tired of heaving them around with me and am not sure I would want anyone else to read them.  Along the outside wall are a selection of my sculptures. I am amazed at how many there are and how small they seem when put outside.

I went to an auction today to watch some of my things flying out of the room for very low prices – it could be disheartening but I am well beyond the point of caring. All I want to do is get this house empty and I am still fighting with the little stuff which I neither want to keep nor throw away.
I stare at it and wish it would just dissolve. If you were here perhaps you could take it away?

Two very good friends came all the way down to Cornwall from Suffolk last weekend. They even brought their own bed!  Both the dogs loved having familiar people staying and spent the nights guarding their room to make sure they too didn’t disappear

But sadly on Sunday they did and so we three are here again, listening to the wind rattling the letterbox and counting the days till next Monday when we set off.
My old house is changing – it still feels like a safe cocoon but the time is coming to let it go for a while and stretch my wings and fly. Think of the swallows who were born this year in my garage – one day they flew around and around the field and then….they climbed higher and higher, set their compass to south and trusted themselves to the air.

The Pack

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Today we took the three dogs to Treen and walked across the fields towards Logan Rock.
Duna is watching the others all the time – learning how to be a member of a pack. Always an only dog, she hasn’t had much experience with other dogs but is picking things up quickly.
Some things she has noticed – like barking when the leads and harnesses appear, and lying on the sofa – are being discouraged but here she is, finally accepting that walking behind the leader is the best way to go!  Blue clambered over three cornish stiles in spite of her arthritic joints, and enjoyed the sea breeze through her thick black fur.